Carol Stream officer who killed man won’t be prosecuted

The police officer who shot and killed a man in Carol Stream in February will not be criminally prosecuted, the DuPage County state’s attorney announced Wednesday.

However, State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said he is not concluding that the officer was justified in using deadly force.

“My conclusion, rather, is that the state cannot meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that officer Daniel Pfingston was not legally justified in using deadly force,” Berlin said in a news release.

Berlin said a shot fired by another officer and a Taser discharge by a third “did not impact Goodlow or contribute to his death.”

Goodlow, 30, was shot in his apartment early in the morning of Feb. 3. Police said they were called to the apartment by a woman reporting Goodlow had attacked her. They met her in the parking lot and entered the apartment about 50 minutes later. Pfingston, carrying a ballistic shield in his left hand and a gun in his right, was the lead officer in the phalanx.

Goodlow’s family has said the woman did not live there and that Goodlow was sleeping when the shooting occurred.

According to Berlin’s release, there was no blood on the bed and that Goodlow was hiding behind a bedroom door.

Goodlow was not armed, Berlin said.

Reaction of family

Goodlow’s sisters have filed a federal lawsuit against the six officers who entered Goodlow’s apartment and the village.

An attorney representing them could not be reached for comment early Wednesday afternoon.

Relatives have previously said that the woman who reported the domestic abuse did not live in the apartment and that only Goodlow was on the lease. Berlin’s statement said she had lived with Goodlow for three months.

The family also has said Goodlow was asleep in his bed when he was shot and that police fired a Taser at him after he was shot.

Berlin’s statement said Goodlow was standing behind an open bedroom door and started to step to the side of it with a raised right arm when he was shot. Investigators found no blood on the bed, according to Berlin.

One of the officers did fire a Taser, Berlin said. One of its prongs hit Pfingston in the shoulder; the other hit the ceiling of a bathroom.

Another officer accidentally fired her gun when she was pushed over an officer. The bullet hit a wall in the bathroom, Berlin said.

Relatives also said that body-camera videos they were shown several days after the shooting showed Goodlow in bed and that the videos police later released publicly had been altered. Berlin said an expert from Motorola Solutions analyzed the videos and determined the videos had not been changed.

Legal issue

Before entering the apartment, the officers learned from a law enforcement database that Goodlow was on probation for robbery, and there was an officer safety alert saying Goodlow was a criminal gang member, with a mention of unlawful possession of a firearm and explosive bullets.

Berlin said that Pfingston told investigators that the bedroom was dark and that when he saw a raised arm, he thought Goodlow might shoot, throw something at him or reach for Pfingston’s gun. Pfingston said he flinched backward and fired his gun.

Because Pfingston maintained he shot in self-defense, prosecutors would have to prove he was not justified in believing he needed to use deadly force, according to Berlin.

State law says prosecutors must evaluate the use of deadly force “from the perspective of a reasonable officer in the same situation, based on the totality of the circumstances known to or perceived by the officer at the time of the decision, rather than with the benefit of hindsight, and that the totality of the circumstances shall account for occasions when officers may be forced to make quick judgments about using force.”

Officer status

On Wednesday, Carol Stream announced that Pfingston, who was working on a probationary basis, is no longer employed by the village. A spokesman declined to say whether he quit, was fired, or not kept after his probationary period. Pfingston started working for the village in February 2022.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240626/news/carol-stream-officer-who-killed-man-wont-be-prosecuted/